Four of the eight kitchen stars that made it through the first, paper-judging stage work for the B&I contractor, and now will compete for four places in the final that is scheduled to take place in November.
The first round saw 35 hopeful chefs come under fire as their application forms were thoroughly reviewed by a panel of judges comprising Allister Bishop, executive chef at St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, Richard Skinner, hospitality head chef at Commerzbank and Sudha Saha the award-winning chef patron of Saffron Group.
The judges were given the gruelling task of reviewing 105 dishes, taking into consideration originality, skill and flavour combinations, as well as the use of seasonal ingredients and the complexity of each dish.
They selected the following eight chefs from across the UK to take part in the semi-final round:
Craig Patterson, sous chef at Baxter Storey, Edinburgh
Rian Devaney, chef de partie at Baxter Storey, Edinburgh
Jonathan Taylor, head chef at Baxter Storey, Edinburgh
Farid Boussoualem, chef manager at Baxter Storey, Hertfordshire
Luke Quincey, sous chef at Southampton University
Michal Wlodarczyk, head chef at Kings Head House, Gloucestershire
Paul O'Malley, head chef at Culcreuch Castle, Glasgow
Rhys Richardson, development chef at Servest Multi Services Group, Suffolk
Nicole Hodge, organiser of the competition said: “The competition is now in its third year and the calibre of chefs gets better every year. For the first time ever we have had an array of chefs applying from Scotland which proves that the competition is going from strength to strength and growing in popularity.”
Richard Skinner added: “It's always an absolute pleasure to be involved with this competition and to witness it getting bigger and better each year.
“Having won the competition myself back in 2013, I have a great understanding of what the chefs go through at each stage of the competition. Every year the standards get higher, and I'm really looking forward to see how this year’s competition unfolds.”
You can keep up-to-date with the competition by visiting www.bluearrow.co.uk and by following the hashtag on twitter: #BACOTY